Objective To study the changes of cytokine activation in patients with chronic congestive haert failure(CHF) as indicated by plasma levels of C-reactive protein(CRP)and its relation to adrenomedullin(ADM) and endthelin-1(ET-1).Methods The plasma levels of CRP,ADM and ET-1 of 60 decompensated haert failure(DHF) patients group and 30 essential hypertension patients with compensated cardiac function(CCF) group were tested. CRP was determined by immunoturbidometry,ET-1 and ADM were determined by radioimmunoassay.Results The plasma levels of ET-1 ,ADM and CRP of decompensated heart failure group were significantly higher than the compensated cardiac function group;In the decompensated heart failure group,the plasma levels of CRP and ADM were elevated according to worsening of heart failure(NYHA classification) ;In the decompensated heart failure group,the plasma levels of CRP were positively correlated with ADM(r=0.57).Conclusion There is extensive activation of cytokines,ADM and ET-1 in patients with chronic congestive heart failure.Cytokine activation might play a role in the synthesis of ADM,thus contribute to the hum oral regulation of heart failure,but may not be re- sponsible for the activation of ET-1.

This study was aimed to explore the resource diversity and microbial inhibition activity of endophytic fungi from medicinal plant Plantago asiatica L. The endophytic fungi were isolated from the root, stem and leaf of the host by tissue inoculation culture and five plant pathogenic fungi and four bacteria strains used as indicating microbes to test microbial inhibition activity by agar plate antagonistic action and modified agar gel diffusion methods. The results indicated that thirteen fungal endophytic strains were isolated from the host. Most of them came from stem, then leaf, and root as the least in number. The isolated strains attribute to five genera, two fam-ilies, and two orders based on morphological characteristics. For the isolated strains, eleven of them were found to have some microbial inhibition activities against one or more indicating fungi, making up 84.6% of the total iso-lates. Six isolated strains had some antimicrobial activities against one or more indicating bacteria, amounting to 46.2% of the total isolates. Three isolated active strains, which are PAEFS001, PAEFS007 and PAEFS008, ex-hibited evident inhibition activities against five kinds of pathogenic fungi used in the trials respectively. The strain of PAEFS001 ascribed to Ozonium sp. Both strains of PAEFS007 and PAEFS008 ascribed to Aspergillus sp. One active strain of PAEFS003 showed evident antibacterial activities to Bacillus subtilis and Staphyloccus aureus, which belonged to Fusidium sp. The endophytic fungi from medicinal plant Plantago asiatica L. have evident an-timicrobial activities. Their inhibition activities against pathogenic fungi have relatively broad spectrum. And their inhibition activities to both Bacillus subtilis and Staphyloccus aureus as G+ are evident and have certain selectivi-ty. It is feasible to find new bioactive compounds associated with endophytic fungi from Plantago asiatica L. Fur-ther research and development of the endophyic fungi will be important for the integrated utilization of the host.

Diabetic nephropathy presents an increasing trend worldwide. It has been an attractive area to find novel targets for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. SIRT1 (Sirtuin 1), a member of deacetylation enzymes, regulates cell senescence, metabolism, and apoptosis. In last ten years, lots of studies showed that SIRT1 exerts a protective effect in the progression of the diabetic nephropathy by promoting reconstruction of energy homeostasis, modulating cell redox state, resisting cell apoptosis, inhibiting inflammation and ameliorating renal fibrosis. SIRT1 has become a potential new target for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.
Apoptosis ; Cellular Senescence ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; pathology ; Humans ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Sirtuin 1 ; physiology

Objective:To investigate reflectance confocal microscopic features of childhood scabies, and to analyze clinical significance of reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood scabies.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed in 77 children with confirmed scabies at Department of Dermatology, Tianjin Children′s Hospital from April 2018 to October 2019. These patients were divided into negative treatment history group (61 cases) and positive treatment history group (16 cases) . All the patients underwent RCM and microscopic examination of skin scrapings.Results:Among the 77 children with scabies, positive microscopic examination results were found in 33 (42.86%) , including 28 in the negative treatment history group and 5 in the positive treatment history group. Burrows, sarcoptid mites or their eggs and fecal pellets were observed in 56 cases (72.73%) by RCM, including 49 (80.33%) in the negative treatment history group and 7 in the positive treatment history group. RCM showed a significantly increased overall positive rate compared with microscopy of skin scrapings ( χ2=14.08, P<0.05) . In the negative treatment history group, RCM also showed a significantly increased positive rate compared with microscopy of skin scrapings ( χ2=15.53, P < 0.05) . Conclusion:RCM is of high clinical value to the diagnosis and treatment of childhood scabies.

Objective To observe the expression levels of Mig in the patients with chronic hepatitis B .Methods The study pop‐ulation consisted of 88 chronic hepatitis B patients and 53 healthy controls .The ELISA ,RT‐PCR and Western‐blotting were used for analysing the expression levels of Mig in serum ,peripheral blood mononuclear cells and liver tissue of the patients with chronic hepatitis B ,while the immunohistochemistry was applied for analysing the distribution of Mig in liver tissue .Results The expres‐sion of Mig in serum ,peripheral blood mononuclear cells and liver tissue of the chronic hepatitis B patients with HBeAg negative were (247 .03 ± 63 .14)pg/mL ,(0 .95 ± 0 .21) ,(0 .79 ± 0 .23) ,and that in the chronic hepatitis B patients with HBeAg positive were (243 .05 ± 53 .00)pg/mL ,(0 .98 ± 0 .35) ,(0 .74 ± 0 .18) ,which were both significantly higher than those in healthy controls ,the difference was statistically significant(P<0 .05) .Conclusion Increased levels of Mig in the patients with chronic hepatitis B may be related to immune state of patients .

Objective To explore the application value of cellular automata(CA)in simulating the epidemic spread of out-break of influenza A(H1N1).Methods The publications regarding influenza A(H1N1)from January 2009 to March 2015 were collected from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),epidemiological data of H1N1 were retrieved ac-cording to inclusion criteria,the Matlab 7.0 software was adopted to construct CA model for simulating and analyzing the epidemic of H1N1 occurred in a university in Chongqing between October 12 and November 20,2009.Results There were a total of 17 820 students in this university,the epidemic of influenza lasted 40 days in 2009;When the parameter,the ef-fective infection rate was 0.04,the model of CA fit well,and gave estimate for basic reproduction number (R0 )1.202. Conclusion CA has certain reliability in simulating epidemics of airborne infectious diseases,it can provide reference for the prevention and control of disease.

BACKGROUND:Hyperhomocysteine can be caused by 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutation, and HHcy is the independent risk factor for cerebral stroke.
OBJECTIVE:To study the correlation between plasma homocysteine level and polymorphisms of MTHFR gene C677T of young people in Shenzhen area, and to explore the relationships of plasma hyperhomocysteine level with other clinical indicators.
METHODS:A total of 101 cases with hyperhomocysteine were col ected as experimental group, and 101 cases with normal homocysteine level served as control group (20-45 years old). Genomic DNA was extracted with magnetic nanoparticles method from mouth swab samples of 202 cases. Then the DNA was amplified into target gene fragment by PCR, and amplification product was then sequenced.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The frequencies of CC, CT, TT genotype of MTHFR C677T showed significant differences between the experimental group and the control group (P<0.01). This evidence indicates that the polymorphisms of MTHFR gene C677T can influence plasma homocysteine level of young people in Shenzhen area;TT genotype frequencies and T al ele frequencies in the experimental group were higher than that of control group. Besides, the plasma homocysteine level of TT genotype was significantly higher than that of CT genotype and CC genotype in the experimental group (P<0.05). We can conclude that TT genotype can improve the homocysteine level more than CT genotype;The systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure in the experimental group were significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). It indicated that hyperhomocysteine can induce the elevation of blood pressure level;but it is not sure that hyperhomocysteine can increase cholesterol level in our study.

Objective To evaluate the usefulness of mycolic acid for identification of Mycobacterium species using SMIS. Methods One hundred and eighteen clinical Mycobacterium isolates collected from Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute through whole year of 2007 were analyzed. The 118 isolates contain 25 isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and 93 non tuberculosis Mycobacterium identified by PNB method. Mycolic acid analysis using SMIS is evaluated for identification of a broad range of Mycobacteria in comparison with 16S rDNA , 16-23S rDNA ITS sequencing to measure the concordance rate and agreement, and verify the concordance rate and agreement among results of mycolic acid, sequencing and PNB in identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis and non tuberculosis Mycobacterium. Results The concordance rate between mycolic acid method analysis and DNA sequencing is 92% ( 108/118), of which concordance rate in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and non tuberculosis Mycobacterium are 95% (35/37) and 90% (73/81) respectively, agreement of both is great( agreement Kappa value is 0. 96). Through retrospective analysis, the concordance of results between SMIS and PNB method analysis is 90% (106/118)and agreement is well( agreement Kappa value is 0. 73 ), the concordance of results between sequencing and PNB method analysis is also 90% ( 106/118 ) and agreement is well (agreement Kappa value is 0. 74 ),despite the identification results of 11 isolates by PNB method are discordant. Conclusion Mycolic acid analysis by SMIS enables rapid identification of a broad range of clinical Mycobacterium species, which could play an important role in polyphasic identification of Mycobacterium species.

OBJECTIVETo explore metabolite profiling changes in serum of rats with pi-qi deficiency syndrome (PQDS) and pi-yang deficiency syndrome (PYDS) based on liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (LC-MS) technique, and to explore the essence of Pi-deficiency syndrome (PDS) from small molecule metabolite level.

METHODSTotally 21 male SD rats of SPF grade were randomly divided into three groups, the normal control group, the PQDS group, and the PYDS group, 7 in each group. Rats in the PQDS group overate for 1 day and fasted for 2 days. They drank freely and then swam to be exhausted in water at 35 degrees C - 37 degrees C for 15 successive days. The PYDS model was established by the same method for PQDS rats plus drenching 20% Folium sennae water extract (2 mL/100 g), once in the morning and once in the evening for one successive week. After modeling, models were evaluated according to rat general state, changes in body weight and rectal temperature. Serum metabonomic profiles were detected using LC-MS technique. Difference in inter-group metabolite spectrograms was analyzed using orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Potential biomarkers related to syndrome types in rat serum were selected via the parameter of variable importance in the projection (VIP).

RESULTSThe weight of rats in the PQDS group and the PYDS group decreased more significantly after modeling. The difference in prepost weight was statistically significant from that of the normal control group (P < 0.01). It was more obviously lowered in the PYDS group than in the PQDS group (P < 0.05). Compared with the normal control group, the rectal temperature of rats in the PYDS group and the PQDS group decreased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). It decresed more in the PYDS group than in the PQDS group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with the normal control group, levels of PC(19:0)/PE(22:0), PC(17:0)/PE(20:0), capric acid, oleic acid, stearic acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, malic acid, glucose increased; arachidonic acid, linolenic acid, lauric acid, androsterone, 4-heptanone, dihydroxyacetonephosphate (DHAP) (6:0), and uridine decreased in the PYDS group and the PQDS group. Compared with the PQDS group, levels of PC(22:1), PC (22:6), PE (18:0)/PC (15:0), retinol, and deoxycytidine increased significantly in the PYDS group; PC (18:1), PC(19 :3), PC (20:3), PC (17:0)/PE (20:0), PC (19:1)/PE (22:1), PC (19:0)/PE (22:0), PC (17:1)/PE (20: 1), PC (16:1)/PE (19:1), cholic acid, hippuric acid, furoic acid, undecanedicarboxylic acid, palmitoleic acid, hydroxy stearic acid, eicosatrienoic acid, phenylalanine, tyrosine, glutamic acid, serine, carbamoyl aspartic acid, palmitoyl carnitine, tetradecanoyl carnitine, acetylcarnitine, and linoleylcarnitine decreased more significantly in the PYDS group.

CONCLUSIONSComparative contents of various serum metabolites changed significantly in PQDS and PYQS model groups. Some potential small molecular biomarkers related to PDS were preliminarily identified. These results might provide some data reference for exploring scientific connotation and pathological mechanisms of PDS.

Animals ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Discriminant Analysis ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Male ; Mass Spectrometry ; Metabolome ; Metabolomics ; Qi ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Yang Deficiency ; blood

OBJECTIVETo develop an HPLC method for fingerprint determination of the astragalosides injection.

METHODAnalyses were carried out at 25 degrees C on a Zorbax SB-C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm,5 microm). Mobile phase A was water, and B was acetonitrile. The analysis followed a linear gradient program. Initial conditions were 15% B; 0 to approximately 65 min, changed to 60% B. The flow rate was 0.8 mL x min(-1). The drift tube temparature of the ELSD was 105 degrees C, and gas flowrate was 2.7 L x min(-1).

RESULTThe RSD of relative retention time of the common peaks in the plant material, the extract and the injection fingerprints was less than 0.1%, and there was good similarity among 10 batches of samples.

CONCLUSIONThe method was reliable and simple which could be used for quality control of the injection.

Astragalus membranaceus ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Injections ; Light ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Saponins ; administration & dosage ; analysis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Scattering, Radiation ; Triterpenes ; analysis